The blankets and the little shelter tents
Have long gone.
The people taken by bus to, for them,
An unknown destination.
Will it be better than this wild camp?
We cannot imagine so, although we long to hope.
Loving Father, we pray for all those whose lives
Have been shattered through the inhumanity
Of people to each other.
The disruption to their families,
Unspeakable.
Many mourn the cruel deaths
That they have witnessed.
Some seek lost family and friends
Without much hope.
We look on, feeling helpless, hopeless
In the face of widespread devastation.
So, Loving Father, we ask again,
Where are they now? –
the families who lived in that camp?
We only know that you are there
Wherever they may be.
May this year bring about some workable solutions;
Some respite and some hope.
May all those, who give time, skills, resources,
Feel that there is a least a little
Light at the end of such a deep, dark tunnel.
Father Forgive,
Open hearts and minds to care
And love enough to change
Such desolate, demanding need.
For the sake of Jesus Christ
We pray,
Amen
Reading: Matthew 2:13-18
STF 723 Who can sound the depths of sorrow
714 The God who sings a new world
Prayers for February by Hazel Parsons
